The Picture
by Pandora of Ithilien
Summary: Just where did that photograph of Nick and Claudia come from?


Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Just a little one-shot to answer a question I had.

_**The Picture:**_ It all started when Connor got bored one day. It was a few weeks after the dodo incident and they were at yet another anomaly. This one was fairly benign; in fact, so far, nothing had come out. Connor had finished up taking his readings on it and now had nothing to do. Unless he wanted to dwell on the events of a few weeks past, which he didn't. So therefore he needed a distraction.

He glanced around and saw Abby talking to Stephen. There was that flash of jealousy he was getting used to, but that wasn't all. Connor's dad was a photographer, and had trained a younger Connor to have a good eye for potential pictures. Something about the way the sun slanted over Abby and Stephen just seemed like it would make a good picture. So he took out his camera and snapped a picture.

Both of them turned to look at him. "Did you just take a picture of us?" Stephen said.

"Yeah," Connor replied.

Abby frowned. "Why?"

"'Cause... I don't know. You looked posed for one. Come look." And he gestured for them to come over as he brought up the new photo up on the display. They came over, curious, and looked.

"That's not a bad shot, Connor," Stephen observed.

"Well, Dad would be happy to hear that," the younger man said lightly.

"Your dad takes photos?" Abby asked.

"Yeah, makes a living off it, actually."

"What are you three looking at?" Nick interrupted, walking over to them. Then he glanced down at the display. "That's pretty good, Connor."

"Thanks, Professor."

That was when Claudia walked over. "Well, we're leaving the SAS here just in case, but I think we can - What are you all looking at?"

"I got bored and took a picture, and now everyone has to look," Connor explained.

"Oh," said Claudia, before taking a look herself. "That's quite good, Connor."

"Huh. Four out of four. Maybe I should have taken up photography like Dad after all."

* * *

After that, they all got used to Connor's camera flashes rather quickly. He seemed to have gotten addicted to it. Not even Connor himself was sure what he intended to do with all of the pictures he'd taken; he'd thought vaguely of putting together a scrapbook, but he was pretty sure that was a girly thing to do. Maybe a photo album, or a portfolio? His dad had several portfolios.

He enjoyed doing it though. As much as he loved the insanity of the anomaly project, the young man who'd always loved weirdness before found the normality of snapping photos oddly comforting. And then there were the reactions he'd gotten from his subjects.

Rex, being a dinosaur, had done nothing more than squawk angrily and fly off - he'd used the flash. Other creatures reacted pretty much the same way.

His human subjects, however, were more interesting. He'd dared to take one of Lester - candid, and he'd tried to prevent the man from finding out about it. It hadn't worked, and he'd been treated to a lecture by the stuffy government agent. (Followed by another one from Claudia, who, while far less stuffy, was a scarier one to face - she tended to lose her temper when lecturing. Apparently, Lester had ranted to her about unprofessionalism in the field team and she wasn't happy about being his sounding board.)

The SAS men mostly took it in their stride. The first time, Ryan had said, "What the hell are you doing, Temple?" After that, though, he just rolled his eyes whenever he saw the student taking out his camera. The other soldiers seemed to think it was funny. Some of them had even paid Connor to get embarrassing photos of another soldier they wanted to harass or even blackmail.

Abby had gotten used to it fairly quickly, probably because he lived with her. All she'd done was threaten him with a slow and painful death if he attempted to take any pictures of her in her underwear or something like that, and then left him to it. Stephen thought it was funny - among other things, he'd been highly amused by Lester's reaction, congratulating Connor on infuriating the man.

As for Nick and Claudia, they had basically the same reaction - avoid the camera lens. He'd managed to get them both in a few candid shots; Claudia was easier to catch than the Professor, who was a sneaky bastard when he wanted to be. Still, he wondered why neither of them wanted to have pictures taken.

* * *

One day they were at the Home Office, having just survived a group lecture from Lester. Connor decided to cheer himself up by taking pictures once again. This time he asked for one. He did that now and then, had people pose. But he asked Nick and Claudia.

"Why, Connor?" Claudia asked.

"Because I haven't got any of either of you," he lied, hoping he looked innocent. Abby and Stephen, who knew this was a lie, exchanged amused looks.

"No, Connor," said Nick flatly, heading for the door.

"Come on, please! Look, just the two of you, one picture and I won't ever ask again. I won't even try for candids." He crossed his fingers under the table at that - he did intend to keep taking candids, but they didn't need to know that.

Nick and Claudia exchanged an exasperated look before moving to stand next to each other. Connor snapped the picture and they moved apart. He grinned at them. "Thanks, really."

* * *

The next day was the pterosaur incident. Talk about something none of them would forget in a hurry. For Nick, the most troubling part hadn't been being nearly eaten by flying predators. No, the most troubling bit for him was the fact that he'd found himself facing feelings he'd been trying to ignore.

Which was why, a few days later, he gave Connor a call, asking if the student could do something for him. Connor wasn't completely sure why Nick had made his request, but he was happy to do it.

* * *

The day he gave Nick what he'd asked for was the day after they'd found out about the future predators. Luckily Helen wasn't around when Connor caught up to Nick. "Here you go, Professor," he said, handing the older man a piece of paper.

Nick looked down at the picture of him and Claudia and smiled slightly. "Thanks, Connor," he said, slipping the photo into his wallet and walking away. Neither of them knew just how significant that picture would become in less than twenty-four hours...


End file.
